Daggers and Dragons
by Hemogasms
Summary: There wasn't much that got by Santana Lopez, even at age seven, having dragon hunters for parents made sure of that. Lonely and determined to be noticed she sets out to slay a dragon, and meets a little blonde dragon rider named Brittany...FantasyBrittana
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Just another little something that popped into my head :).**

**I don't own Santana or Brittany, but Sparkle is all mine.**

There wasn't much that got by Santana Lopez. Even at age seven, as she jogged between the small stone settlings and roaring fires of her town, weaving effortlessly in and out of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, her eyes never left the sky.

Her parents had been killed two years ago, lost in the line of duty the village preacher man had said as they'd thrown earth over their bodies. As Santana had stood there in the cemetery and watched, it hadn't really mattered how it had happened, just that it was done, that her Mami and Papi were gone, and she would be all alone from then on. Of course even though she was all alone, luckily she had her older brother Miguel, who although was there on paper to act as a guardian to her, in reality she barely saw the recently turned eighteen year old, as 'duty' too kept him away for long spells, leaving little Santana to fend for herself – something which she found a lot of pride in being able to do.

After their parents had passed, the Lopez children had been given a small stone holding in the poorer area of the village, and enough money to ensure they didn't starve in the months immediately following their parent's deaths. As time wore on, and more lives were lost, the villagers became less and less concerned with their welfare, until no one so much as raised an eyebrow at the dirty little Latina girl, in her torn tunic, running around the town at all hours.

Santana continued that running now. She could hear the warriors up ahead, and as she drew near to their base, she saw the huge catapults, constructed from tree trunks and wooden pegs, being aimed at the dark shape that was circling menacingly in the sky overhead. Taking in the scene and quickly figuring out the trajectory of the projectile (Santana guessed they'd use a medium sized boulder – light enough to fly high, but heavy enough to damage it's target), the little girl quickly darted out from the rock she was hiding behind, and began to sprint in the direction she anticipated the target would fall in.

Growing up with dragon hunters for parents, and a brother with the same occupation, Santana had learnt a lot about the profession. In her little cliff top village, the dragon hunters were the most respected of all the townsfolk, as they were the ones who kept them all safe and allowed them to go about their daily lives. As the tiny girl sprinted towards her destination, head down as she pushed herself faster and faster, she couldn't help the anticipation that bubbled in her stomach, it almost made her want to giggle…almost.

Santana didn't have many friends in her little village; in fact she had none at all. The other children never seemed to want to play with her, and the situation had only worsened since her parents deaths, when she went from not only being the uncharacteristically tiny girl with the dark eyes and skin, but also the girl with no mommy and daddy. The one with the unbraided hair, or the dirty tunic, the one who didn't wait for her mommy at the door of the school, but simply collected her book satchel and left alone. She was an outsider.

Running harder, the girl pushed herself onwards, determined to block out the thoughts. She told herself that she didn't need to be sad about any of that anymore, because today was the day that it was all going to change, today she was going to kill a dragon.

As she finally reached the area she guessed the creature would tumble from the skies and crash into, when the hunters smashed the rock into it, she clambered into a tree, and once she was satisfied she was high enough up it's bow, plonked down onto a sturdy branch, and pulled the little pocket knife she had stolen from her brother's armoury from her tunic pocket, fingering the blade nervously as she waited.

The hideous screech that erupted from somewhere above her made the girl jump, and she almost dropped her weapon, as she fought to maintain her balance on her perch. Righting herself, she turned her dark brown eyes to the sky, and sure enough a large dark shape was falling from the clouds, twirling and spinning as it crashed towards the Earth. As it closed in at an alarming rate, Santana lost sight of the beast through the trees, but a loud crash not far from her perch told her it had fallen close by.

With adrenaline coursing through her veins, made up of a mixture of excitement and fear, Santana scrambled down the tree, jumping from a branch far higher than she should, and hurting her foot a little. Annoyed she barely stopped to rub it better before she was off at a run towards her target, the horns that confirmed a dragon down blurring in the distance back at the town. As she ran as fast as her little legs would carry her, she was barely able to contain herself – this was it, the day Santana Lopez would become somebody, because today, she was going to slay a dragon.

As she approached a clearing, seeing a dark mound up ahead, Santana felt prickles of fear at the nape of her neck, making the baby hairs there stand up on end, but ignoring it she pushed on. She stumbled out into the clearing, blood whooshing in her ears, her mouth slightly agape at what she saw.

From the stories the other children told in the schoolyard she had expected the dragon to be much bigger. This one was just a little longer than the lumpy straw mattress she slept on every night, and it lay flat on it's back, it's wings curled over it's stomach it's eyes closed. Moving closer, curious, Santana noticed the creature was breathing – though the breaths came out laboured and uneven.

Grasping the dagger tighter in her hand, Santana sucked in a deep breath. She knew she had limited time, the hunters from the village would be close by now, she had a few minutes at best to slay the beast, then she could just wait there for them to find her, and she would finally be noticed, finally someone would want to play with her marbles in the schoolyard, finally she wouldn't be so alone.

Her thoughts made her a little braver, and taking a determined step forward she tentatively nudged to creature in the side with a tiny sandaled foot. For a second nothing happened, and she was just about to nudge it again, when all of a sudden one of it's eyes shot open, and Santana gasped and jumped back. Instead of the blood red, or midnight black eyes, the stories had told Santana she should expect, staring back at her was a large round eye, with an iris containing every colour of the rainbow.

The little girl found herself momentarily lost in the pretty colours, until a crashing at the edge of the forest brought her back to reality – she had to act quickly, the hunters were getting close! The rainbow eye followed her as she stepped closer again, raising the knife above the dragon's throat in shaking hands. Standing there, poised to strike Santana willed herself to just kill the creature, to just do what had to be done, make everyone proud, make them finally notice her…yet there was something about those pretty eyes, something almost sad that was making it incredibly hard for her to do so.

Realising she was beat, Santana let her arms fall to her sides, hanging her head as she accepted her plan was a failure. Deciding it best to hide somewhere before the hunters were upon them and she was chastised for putting herself in danger, Santana turned and began to walk away, before a shuffling behind her made her whirl back around, her hands held up in fright.

Her brown eyes were wide in shock and fear as the injured dragon groaned a little, as it spread it's previously curled wings, letting them come to rest on the forest floor on either side of it's prone form. Santana gasped, her mind racing uncontrollably, because there, lying on the dragon's belly, unconscious, was a blonde girl who looked to be about her age.

The light penetrated her eyelids as her dark cocoon was removed, and the little girl stirred a little then slowly opened her eyes. Santana knew she had to run, to hide, but as she watched the girl before her she was somehow rooted to the spot. She had hair the colour of golden corn, and her eyes were the bluest things Santana had seen in all of her young life. Those blue eyes looked into brown ones for a moment, before the girls situation seemed to register with her and she let out a strangled cry, her gaze turning to the beast below her, as she jumped up and to it's head.

"Sparkle? Sparkle wake up… please, we need to go…" she cried, cradling the big reptile's head in her arms. Hearing another crack less than a mile back in the forest spurred Santana into action.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, "Get away from it before it kills you."

"Why would Sparkle want to kill me? He's my friend…" the little blonde replied, her big blue eyes watery and full of confusion.

"It's…a dragon" Santana declared as if the other girl hadn't noticed.

"He's my dragon" the strange girl replied, "He's hurt, please, can you help me?" she asked, her blue eyes once again searching out brown.

Looking back at the other girl, Santana found herself actually wanting to help. She looked to be about the same age as her, though she was considerably taller. She wore a earth coloured tunic, similar to Santana's cream one, and a small braid hung down the left side of the part in her yellow hair. Looking back into her eyes, Santana had to admit to herself that she was pretty, probably the prettiest girl she had ever seen. "I can't help you, the hunters are coming" Santana stated sadly.

"Sparkle is hurt please" the blonde begged again, "I need to go home, we need to go home, please."

"I can't" Santana explained, throwing up her hands as if to illustrate her point. "We need to hide come on" she commanded as in an act of pure daring she lunged forward and grabbed the blonde's hand. She barely noticed the contrast of the other girls pale skin against the caramel of her own, as she hurriedly dragged her behind a nearby fallen tree.

"But…" the blonde started before she was cut off as Santana clapped a hand to her lips.

"You have to be quiet, okay?" she whispered, her eyes searching blue for a sign of understanding, and when the other girl nodded she slowly and unsurely retracted her hand.

"What's your name?" Santana whispered, unsure exactly of what to do next.

"Brittany Susan Pierce" the blonde whispered back, suddenly seeming excited as she stuck her hand out towards Santana.

"Erm…" the darker girl started confused, as she stared down at the extended hand.

"You're meant to shake silly" Brittany told her with a quiet giggle, "Like this" she explained, as she carefully wrapped their hands together before moving them up and down dramatically. "What's yours?" She asked when their hands broke apart.

For a minute Santana forgot what she meant, her head still spinning from her failed attempt to kill the dragon, and the sudden appearance of…well, Brittany, out of the creatures wings.

"I…Erm…" she stuttered out, her cheeks colouring crimson, her eyes finding the forest floor, embarrassed. Nobody liked her, and Brittany had been kind of nice to her, and now here she was again making herself look like a freak.

"IIII EEErrm" Brittany drew out the syllables, "That's a pretty name" she smiled reassuringly.

"Oh no…My name is Santana Lopez" the latina corrected, the beginnings of a smile pulling at her lips – Brittany was kind of goofy, but she was pretty and she was talking to Santana without calling her names, maybe she would get a friend out of today after all.

"So what are you doing here?" Santana asked, her newfound confidence making speaking to the blonde a little easier.

"Well you pulled me over here, so I thought you knew" Brittany replied, her nose scrunching a little again, in a gesture that Santana was learning meant she was confused.

"I mean in Cliffstone" Santana clarified.

"Oh" Brittany gave a shy smile as she realised her mistake, "I'm not supposed to be here, but my Daddy was busy and I wanted to know what was beyond the valley, and my riding lessons have been going really well lately, so I took Sparkle and flew across to see what was here. I was hoping it would be a double rainbow or something…" she trailed off sadly.

"Wait, you said riding?" Santana asked, her eyes wide.

"Of course" Brittany smiled back, "I ride Sparkles, he's the best dragon in town, his eyes are the colour of rainbows" she informed her proudly. When the other girl didn't reply Brittany chewed her bottom lip nervously, wondering if she had said something dumb again. "What's your dragon called?" she asked tentatively, hoping to break the silence.

Before Santana could reply, the first of the hunters burst into the clearing, calling back to the others that they'd found the beast. Santana recognised the dark hair of her Brother, before she turned her gaze back to Brittany who was trying to scramble over the log, before the little latina pulled her down by her ankle. As the pair tumbled to the forest floor, Santana pressed her palm to the blonde's mouth once more.

"You need to be quiet, and stay hidden" she hissed. Big blue eyes stared back at her full of confusion. With a sigh Santana tried to explain, "The people out there, and my brother, they're dragon hunters, they kill dragons."

The blue eyes visible above her hand immediately filled with tears, and Santana could feel the other girl's lip starting to shake. "Don't cry, don't cry please Brittany. The dragon…uhh, Sparkle will be okay, for now, they'll just take him back to the town and…" she stopped herself, as a little light seemed to return to those blue eyes.

Carefully she removed her hand from the other girls mouth, and was surprised when said girl flung herself forward, her arms wrapping around Santana's neck, as she hugged her tightly. "Please help me San…Santat…Sana… Sanny" Brittany settled for, names that begin with S are hard.

Santana was rigid in the other girls embrace at first, her body unsure of how to respond to the unfamiliar affection, but as the blonde continued to cling on, she felt herself relax into it, enjoying the warmth of another person close to her. She closed her eyes and remembered all the nights her Papi had hugged her goodnight, she wished she could feel him do that one more time.

Something wet on the side of her neck distracted Santana from her thoughts, and alarmed, she was about to pull away, before she realised that Brittany was crying. "Sanny, please help me" she begged again. Santana liked the way the nickname sounded, all of the cool kids at school had nicknames…no one had ever given her one, well not a nice one anyway.

Pulling back from the hug she looked again into those big blue tear-filled eyes, her little mind working overtime as she tried to come up with a plan. "Okay Britts, I'll help you, but you have to promise me one thing?" Santana rushed out quickly, hoping the blonde wouldn't notice that she had given her a nickname too, or that if she did she wouldn't mind.

"Thank you" Brittany cried out a little too loudly, relieved, and Santana had to clap her hand over her mouth again, before her eyes went wide and she shrugged in apology.

"But wait, you have to promise me something" Santana repeated, her eyes finding the floor again, "You have to promise to come and see me again" she said shyly.

"Of course I'll see you again Sanny" Brittany promised, leaning forward and in a move that utterly surprised the girl, kissed her lightly on the cheek, "You're my friend" the little blonde told her, her cheeks going a pretty pink as it was her turn to be shy.

Santana smiled a brilliant toothy grin, and Brittany beamed back, and for a few seconds it was just the two of them in all of the world, before a shout from one of the hunters broke their moment. Popping her head above the cover of the log, Santana saw the closing in a ring around the fallen dragon, ready for the kill.

"Can your dragon fly?" Santana asked hurried, as she ducked back down to Brittany's level.

"Of course, how do you think I got here" Brittany replied.

"I mean can he fly right now, he seems hurt" Santana clarified.

"I…I don't know" Brittany admitted, "He's strong, and his wings didn't seem to be hurt, I think just his back from where he fell when he was keeping me safe."

Santana's little brain processed the information a mile a minute, before she had a somewhat sketchy plan, but a plan none the less, formed in her mind.

"Okay Britts, here's what we do" she told the other girl, careful to explain her plan perfectly, and leave no room for misinterpretation.

Once that was done and the blonde girl agreed the latina reluctantly got to her feet, she didn't even have to duck to stay hidden behind their log thanks to her tiny size. "So…goodbye I guess" she said sadly.

Catching her new friend's sad tone, Brittany was up in a heart beat, throwing herself forwards, her arms locking around the smaller girls neck again, "Don't be sad, Santant…Sana…Sanny. I'll come visit you, I promise, on the night when the moon is really round like an egg, I'll come."

"Eggs are oval Britts" Santana told her sadly as they parted, "Bye" she whispered, as she turned ready to duck into the foliage.

"Wait" Brittany whispered loudly, quickly moving back to Santana's side. The taller girl unwound a leather throng from around her arm, it was dyed a deep blue colour and reminded Santana of the girls eyes. The little latina started in surprise when Brittany wound the bracelet around her own wrist and fixed it there, the blue stark against her tan skin.

"When you miss me, you can touch it and remember that I'll be back" Brittany explained simply, gesturing to the matching bracelet she wore on her other wrist.

"Thank you" Santana managed to splutter out, taken a back and overwhelmed by the gesture, her fingers running over the smooth braided leather as if to make certain of it's realness.

"Goodbye" Brittany whispered, leaning forward again, to press her soft pink lips to a crimson tanned cheek, before Santana reluctantly turned and darted away.

Seconds later, childlike cries of help echoed around the clearing, emanating from about half a mile back towards the town. On hearing the sound, the dragon hunters all turned towards it confused, and a few of them even took off at a run to help whoever was in distress.

Seizing the chance, just as Santana had told her to, Brittany ran from her hiding place behind the log, easily dodging a large man who blocked her path. "Hey" he called out as he saw her, but he was too late.

Seeing his little mistress approaching, Sparkle flipped himself to his feet, and was beating his wings as Brittany launched herself up onto his back, and propelled them both into the air.

In the next clearing over, Santana let out a sign of relief as she saw the shape of Sparkle in the sky, and if she squinted hard enough she could just make out the outline of Brittany perched on his back as they circled overhead.

Circling in the clouds, Brittany took one glance back down at her new friend, her chest hurting as she missed her already. Hearing the hunters below shouting up at her, she took one last glance at Santana, before she shifted her weight and leaned forward slightly, sending Sparkle flying forward, gliding easily through the air and homeward.

Below Santana watched with sad eyes as the shape in the sky disappeared from her line of vision, her fingers easily finding the cool leather of the bracelet, as she fought the urge to cry. Seconds later the first of the hunters burst into the clearing, weapons wielded.

"You called for help?" one man asked, his eyes scanning their surroundings for any sign of danger.

"I saw a snake" Santana offered feebly, "A really big one."

"God-damn it" the man cussed, before called out to alert the others, "It's nothing, just the damned Lopez girl."

Santana hung her head, yet somehow the insult didn't hurt as much as it once would have.

That night, after she tucked herself into bed, Santana rolled the bracelet between her fingers, and as she slowly drifted towards sleep, she thought of her new friend, and her only friend, Brittany, and for the first time in two years, seven year old Santana Lopez fell asleep with a smile on her face.

**AN: Totally intended as a one-shot but if the interest is there I could be persuaded to maybe make it something more. If you like/want more review and say so :). **

**I'm also interested to hear thoughts on this, cuz it's very different to what I usually do, and I'm not sure if it's good different, bad different or just different different.**

**Lastly, please check out my newest multi-chapter Brittana fic 'Ever After: A Brittana Story'. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: You wanted more…here it is.**

**RainBlueWater: Why thank you :)**

**Jhaycita: Maybe I should try and make the summary a little more clear that it is indeed fantasy, thanks for the input. Glad you're enjoying.**

**Clara J: Your review made me smile, Sparkle is awesome, I kinda wish someone would make Sparkle plush dolls. Gotta love Britts and her round egg moon *****facepalm***

**Rosswellmorgana: Erm, have you been reading my diary again… ;) Great minds think alike**

**Bdjsnmavs: Thank you, you asked, so here ya go**

**Panda-Panda: They are two very different stories, so I'm not surprised at all that you favour one over the other, thanks for giving them both a chance, and I'm glad this one is something you like. Sparkle may just be my greatest creation to date**

**CrimsonJoy: Can't lie, I had a little fangirl moment when I got your review, I'm a big fan of your stories, so praise from you means an awful lot. Thank you so much, and any constructive criticism/pointers to help me improve are more than welcome.**

**To anyone I missed: Thank you for reading and encouraging me to go on with this… Also loving the little Sparkle fanclub that's forming :)**

_10 years later_

Santana's life barely altered in the ten years following that day when she met the pretty blonde girl and her dragon. She still went to the school, and although the children had grown into teens, who no longer refused to play with her (because nobody played anymore), they still excluded her from their activities and friendship groups, and saw the Latina as more of an outside than ever. A major difference was that Santana no longer cared. Whereas she had once sought their approval and their acceptance, as on that faithful day she set out to slay a dragon, she now simply didn't mind what they, or anyone else for that matter thought of her.

She was no more liked by her peers at the schoolhouse, but she was definitely more feared. The constant snide remarks, and teasing, had caused the still small and slight girl to toughen up. She was known for her razor sharp tongue and scathing insults. Many people considered her a bitch, Santana didn't really care, she considered herself a survivor.

Around her left wrist, she still wore a somewhat faded blue leather throng, every single day without fail. She had told herself on more than one occasion it was stupid, but it just hurt too much to stop wearing the bracelet, so she carried on doing it, regardless of the fact that it kind of hurt to wear it too. She had become accustomed to simply appreciating the comfort she got from the fact the smooth leather was there, yet ignoring it's presence at the same time, for what it symbolised still made her chest ache painfully, even after all those years.

Every full moon since her initial meeting with the tall blonde girl and the dragon with the rainbow eyes, in the dead of night Santana Lopez has crept out of her little stone holding, snuck through the town, and sprinted off into the forest, stopping only when her feet touched the spot where the pair first met. To this day, Brittany has never once returned as she promised she would.

Today was just another day for Santana, another typical boring day in Cliffstone, however, although she wouldn't admit it to herself, her day was made a little more interesting by the fact that tonight would be the full moon. Sitting at her desk in the back of the class Santana mentally berated herself for even caring that it was tonight, telling herself it was stupid and pathetic to still believe anything would happen when she journeyed out to the log as she always did, yet a small part of her could never help but hope, only to have that hope crushed each time, as she sat there alone and freezing for the best part of the night.

A couple of desks across from her Azimio and Dave, some of the boys in her class, were whispering a little too loudly, and it was easy for Santana to pick up some of their words, 'freak', 'all alone', 'no parents, I heard they ran away because she's so weird'. The Latina fumed, as she did her best to ignore them, and focus on the teacher at the front of the class, who was droning on about their town's history, and the very first dragon slayers, something she didn't really care to hear either.

Keeping her head down, and minding her own business, Santana made it through the rest of the day, and was relieved to finally rush through the doors of the schoolhouse, pushing past others who were hovering, waiting for their friends, or talking in laughing in groups. She had just made it out of the yard gates, when she heard a voice behind her she knew all too well, "Hey Satan, where you running off to?" Azimio called out, his tone cocky as ever, earning him a few sniggers from Dave and the other boys in their group. Santana gritted her teeth and carried on walking, clutching the hide satchel that carried her books closer to her side, one hand subconsciously moving to find the smooth surface of the blue leather bracelet that, as always, was secured around her wrist.

As the Latina continued her journey home, the calls and the heckling that followed her didn't let up, they simply died down, until she guessed there were only a few boys left. As she waked past the blacksmith's little workshop, Dave called out this time, his voice full of irritation, "Hey freak, we're talking to you".

Unable to control her temper any longer, Santana abruptly came to a halt and whirled around to face her tormentors, her mocha brown eyes were alight with fury and her words dripped venom when she spoke, "What is your problem?" she demanded, to whom she now knew to be the three boys following her.

"You" Azimio shot back cooly, his lips turned up in a smug smile as he was finally getting the reaction he had been seeking.

"Wow, real sharp with the comebacks there genius" Santana hissed, "Here's how this is going to go down, you back the hell up, get out of my grill and stay out of it, or I'll crack one of your nuts, right or left, that's your choice." Her dark eyes glittered with the threat, and she crossed her arms over her chest to keep them from shaking.

To any onlookers she appeared calm and confident. Inside she wanted nothing more than to turn around and flee to her special place out in the forest, but she'd known these people for years now, grown up with them, and she had learned that intimidation was about the only way she could get by. People wouldn't be nice to her because they liked her, but they would at least leave her alone if they were scared of her, so she gave the three boys, who each weighed at least double what she did, her best bitch glare, and waited for a response.

The boys spoke quietly among themselves, and though she didn't let it show Santana strained to hear. They glared at her menacingly for a few seconds, before Azimio, followed by the others, simply turned and silently walked away, leaving the small girl standing there on the dusty road of the village, seething.

Things seemed to escalate over the next few days. Though the boys would never directly confront her, Santana could feel their eyes on her in class, or when she was in the yard at breaks. They even followed her home a few nights, never saying a word, just stalking behind her quietly, before dispersing as she stepped into the peasant area of town in which she lived.

Their actions made the girl uneasy, but she tried to keep it to the back of her mind. She had been visiting her special spot almost every night since the first confrontation, she had no idea why, but something about being alone, out there in among the trees, and in a place where she had once been when her life had seemed so hopeful, it calmed her nerves, and kept her steeled against whatever it was she knew the boys had planned – they weren't the type to simply back off, and she knew it. A few evenings she had begun to wonder if someone was following her as she slinked through town and to the border of the forest, however whenever she retraced her steps or looked around she found nothing or no one, and put it down to simple paranoia her inner-turmoil of late.

At the next full moon Santana found herself sneaking out to the spot again, her sandals flopping quietly against the earth as she jogged easily through the town.  
>As she ran, she tried not to think, or to let herself question what she was doing. She strongly believed she had given up on Brittany ever returning long ago and there was no real reason for her to keep going back to their intended meeting place, yet there she was again, running out in the freezing cold in the middle of the night, unable to simply lay in her bed and let the round moon glide by without spending the night below it on the log.<p>

It almost felt as if it had come a habit to her, some sort of tradition that she just couldn't break. As she caught sight of the forest, just beyond the last row of work buildings, which were thankfully empty for the night, she found herself caught, as she always did, in the faint memory of the crystal blue eyes, and long golden hair that had haunted her dreams for the last ten years.

Just before she stepped foot into the cover of the trees, she was startled by the snapping of a twig to her left, before something grabbed her roughly by her left arm, hauling her from a near sprint to a halt, digging into the soft flesh covering her bicep. Before she could turn around to look at whoever had grabbed her, Santana was thrown roughly to the ground, a gasp leaving her lips as the breath was knocked out of her on the impact.

The Latina took a second to try and force air into her painfully constricting lungs, and control her heart that felt as though the adrenaline coursing through her system was about to cause it to pound right out of her chest, and as she did so, she was surrounded by the sounds of cruel male laughter. Raising her eyes, she was met with the sight of a group of five boys advancing on her menacingly, lead by Azimio and Dave.

"Well, well, well" Dave sneered, using his foot roughly to shove her back down when she tried to sit up, "The little freak, isn't so clever now, are you?"

Santana didn't even respond, her mind raced. She had always had what she liked to think were decent street smarts and survival instincts, and right now, those instincts were screaming at her that she was out numbered, out muscled, and generally in serious trouble. Her limbs felt weak and shaky, and for a second she wondered if she would even be able to stand, let alone try to get away. Her train of thought was broken however, when something hard and unexpected connected square with her jaw, sending her head snapping round over her left shoulder, a spray of blood falling to the dusty ground as the delicate skin of her lip split under the force of the hit.

Azimio withdrew his hand, shaking it a little, a cruel smile on his face, "Damn, I usually draw a line at hitting girls, but after the little nut cracking comment, thought I ought to teach you a lesson" he sneered.

As the boys closed in on her, Santana was terrified, she wanted to cry and curl up and be back in her bed, or at the log, or just anywhere that wasn't lying crumpled on the floor while five boys who wanted to seriously hurt her and possibly kill her advanced.

Her lip was pouring warm metallic liquid into her mouth and down her chin, and her jaw and neck ached from the whiplash the punch had given her, yet she refused to let any fear or emotion show through, she wouldn't give the bastards the pleasure. So instead of curling up or trying to run, she simply held her position on the ground, setting her chin firmly in the air, her eyes burning with a fire that promised never to be extinguished, her arms crossed over her chest in what looked to be an act of defiance, but in reality would protect her vulnerable midsection, and awaited the onslaught.

Everything seemed to slow down, as the boys closed the distance until they were standing over her. She caught snippets of conversation, words and phrases directed at her drifted into her barely functioning mind, 'bitch', 'taught a lesson', 'freak', though they hardly registered. As Dave drew back his fist, the small girl couldn't help but close her eyes as she waited for the first blow.

Instead of the searing pain she was expecting, she was startled by a loud thud, and she opened her eyes just in time to see Dave drop to the ground. "What the…" Azimio was cut off, as he too fell where he stood, this time Santana noticed a water-melon sized boulder hit the ground by his slumped form.

Instantly the Latina raised her eyes to the sky, seeking out the source of the well aimed rocks, and sure enough circling overhead was a dark shape, one that seemed excitingly foreign, yet oh so familiar in a way that sent shivers down her spine. Ignoring the pain shooting through her battered body as she picked herself up off the ground, she didn't notice the three remaining boys sprinting back to the town spooked by the sudden attack, she simply took off herself, running as fast as she could, almost stumbling with her eagerness to reach her's and Brittany's spot.

As she reached the log, panting and exhausted, it was all Santana could do to plonk herself down on it's familiar rough bark, bury her head in her hands, and give way to the hot angry tears that were silently forcing their way from her eyes. When her tears finally subsided, she wiped away their salty trails from her cheeks, and ran her fingers over the dry cracked bark of the log that once looked so big to her as a child. Her adrenaline addled brain, finally began to slow and calm, and as her regular thought process returned, she remembered the dark shape across the sky, the fallen boys lying on the ground when they should have been beating her to within an inch of her life. Barely daring to believe what she had seen with her own eyes, she chanced a glanced up at the dark midnight sky, and sure enough it was as empty as she guessed it would be, save for the perfectly round full moon and a handful of stars.

Santana didn't know why, but she felt the hot pricking of tears at the back of her eyes again. Her body ached from it's assault, and she felt a sense of loss and disappointment she knew was down to the absence of a certain blonde, even after all these years. Unable to contain her sorrow, she buried her head in her hands once again, the leather bracelet brushing against her cheek as she sobbed silently into the night. Seconds passed turning into minutes, and she cried still, almost as though she had finally broken the dam that had been holding the floodwaters back for far too long, and now al the tears that she had refused to let herself cry over the last ten years were finally allowed to fall free.

Her fit of emotion was interrupted as something hard and smooth hit her on the shoulder, causing her to jump and inhale a few tears, which she coughed and spluttered over before regaining her breath. Warily she glanced around, concerned that perhaps the boys were hiding nearby and throwing things at her, when suddenly her eyes fell on a little pebble close to her feet. Picking it up and feeling it's weigh and surface in her hands she was certain it was the object that had collided with her shoulder. Studying the little rock, she felt the corners of her lips tugging into a smile. For a pebble, it was uncharacteristically flat, and fit easily into the palm of her hand, and most intriguing of all, it was heart shaped.

The minute the shape of the rock registered, another connection fired through Santana's brain, and immediately she threw her head back to look at the sky, just in time to see a dark shape disappearing from her line of vision behind the trees. "Brittany" she screamed, no longer caring who heard, a feeling of excitement and nauseous dread welling up inside her all at once.

The blonde was close, or she had been, she knew it, she could feel it. The girl had been back in her life, and watching that dark shape disappear she was determined not to lose her again. With the little pebble clutched tightly in one hand, Santana set off at a run through the forest, setting a blistering pace, crying out every few strides, or whenever she could find the breath.

She ran until her feet began to bleed, and the dark shape from the sky was long gone. Collapsing under the waning light of the full moon, Santana fell to her knees, the heart shaped pebble clutched to her chest, as she fought for breath, and cursed herself for not running faster or realising sooner. She felt the all too familiar sense of crushing disappointment invade her chest and threaten to suffocate her where she knelt, yet at the same time, palming the little rock, she felt something she had not felt in a very long time – a tiny spark of hope.

**AN: Sorry for the angst, things will pick up, just bare with me.**

**Also just to warn everyone, I have decided to continue this story, but updates won't be as quick as with Ever After. This piece is so different to what I normally write, that I also want to write it differently, at a more liberal pace, as inspiration comes, rather than with the almost rushed feeling I seem to get with my other longer works.**

**The more reviews it gets, the more inspired to write I'll be, and the quicker it will get updated. Also, I'm a second year med student, so free time isn't so easy to come by, but I do try :). As always thanks for the support.**


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